Have you been thinking about taking a few pages out of the survivalists’ book? Maybe you’ve seen the Doomsday Prepper show and have liked the good ideas you gleaned. If so, you’re not alone.

Millions of people today have been joining the ranks of preppers. People from all walks of life and all parts of the globe are now stockpiling supplies in order to be ready for an emergency.

After watching the aftermath of events like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Sandy and city-wide blackouts, taking action to be prepared for the worst is practically becoming an American pastime.

If you’re new to prepping, you certainly feel overwhelmed. I know I did back when I started. There seems to be too much to do and not enough time or money to do it with.

The Expert Prepper website will give you guidance so you can get started without the stress. This is one of my favorite resources for reliable, accurate and potentially life-saving prepper information:

Everyone seems to have a plan, but no two of those plans are the same. One guy’s plan seems the total opposite of others. Competing advice makes it even harder to figure out what to do.

Let me give you a few secrets that I’ve learned from some expert preppers. Now I’m an expert too, but only because I listened to what more experienced preppers told me before I learned from hands-on practice in preparedness.

You Have to Fit Your Prepping Plan into Your Lifestyle

One of the reasons that everyone’s prepping plan is different is that we all have different lifestyles and live in different areas. Where I live, there’s a risk of hurricanes, but there might not be such a risk where you live. If that’s the case, my preps to make it through a hurricane will be a waste of time for you.

If you live in the city, you’ve got to do things differently than someone who lives out in the country. Apartment dwellers have to come up with a different plan than those in the suburbs. Everything is personalized.

When you make your plans, don’t do things just because everyone else does them; stick with what works for you.

Knowledge Is More Valuable Than Stuff

A lot of prepping is about stockpiling food and other supplies to use in the case of a disaster. Some preppers build a one-year stockpile of food; some, even more.

All that food and those other survival supplies won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t know how to cook without electricity. Yes, stockpiling is an important part of prepping, but it’s not the most critical. It’s much more important to learn skills that will help you survive.

It’s Easier to Survive in a Group

There are times to be a lone ranger and times to run with the pack. Take my word for it; if you’re going to survive, it’s not the time to be a lone ranger. You can’t do everything yourself. Everyone can use a little help.

I know that movies like Rambo make it look like you can make it on your own if you’re tough enough. However, you’ve got to remember that Sylvester Stallone is an actor who had a whole crew taking care of him on the movie set. You need a crew too—a trusted group of like-minded people who are committed to helping each other survive.

Learn to Keep Your Mouth Shut

If the SHTF and there’s a general collapse of society, the most dangerous people might be your family and friends. That’s right: People who know that you’re a prepper will come looking for you, expecting you to take care of them. Be careful!

It’s hard to keep your extended family and friends out of something major that’s going on in your life. They know you and tend to know what you are doing.

Yet when their kids are hungry, they’re going to expect you to help them. That’s going to put you in a bind; do you take care of your friends’ kids or your own kids?

Of course, the easiest way to solve this problem is to bring your friends into your prepping team. That’s what I did! Like I said, it’s easier to survive in a group.

If you have close friends whom you trust with your life, make them part of your survival plan.

Redundancy, Redundancy, Redundancy

If you think about it, the cornerstone of prepping is redundancy. We’re doing the things we are already doing, only more so because we don’t trust that what we depend on daily will always be there. Supply chains, the electrical grid and even police protection could all break down tomorrow.

Having a water filtering system to depend on is great when the city water goes down, but having a spare is even better. You never know when your primary system will fail. Have a backup for everything you can.

Don’t Try to Do It All Today

Everyone gets overwhelmed when they start prepping. When I started, everything I heard in the news made me think that I needed to have my preps in place by next week. I’d rush to finish projects and buy some more food, but nothing happened.

None of us know when things are going to get bad. It’ll probably happen later than we think yet sooner than we want.

Since you can’t get everything ready in one week, take your time. It’s much more important to keep moving forward than it is to try and set everything in place today.

Besides, there’s no way that anyone can get it all done, now or ever! I guarantee you: Once you check off every item on your list, you’ll start thinking of more things to do. Just keep going forward; at least then you’re going in the right direction.

It’s going to take time to get prepared, but the key is to keep taking action. Even with just one baby step forward every day, you can take comfort in knowing that you’ll be more prepared tomorrow than you were yesterday.